45: “Beer Bad” (BTVS S4E5)

[00:00:00] Hmm? Ah! Oh... Oh... Willow, can I tell you something kinda private? Okay. I mean, I feel you've shown me a perspective I hadn't really thought much about before. What is it you wanted to tell me? Just, I've enjoyed talking with you...

[00:00:30] here, tonight. Me too. I mean, with you. You know, I'm wondering something about you. What? Just how gullible do you think I am? I mean, with your gentle eyes and your shy smile and your ability to talk openly only to me. You're unbelievable. What?

[00:01:00] This isn't sharing. This isn't connecting. It's the pleasure principle. That's right, I got your number in, boy. Only thing you're thinking about is how long before you can jump on my bones. Look, if you think that I'm... I mean, you men! It's all about the sex. Find a woman, drag her to your den, do whatever's necessary just as long as you get the sex. I tell you, men haven't changed since the dawn of time.

[00:01:46] Hello, everybody. Welcome to Still Slaying, a Buffyverse podcast. I'm Penny. And I'm Cara. For this episode, we're going to be discussing Season 4, Episode 5 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer titled Beer Bad, written by Tracy Forbes and directed by David Solomon. This episode originally aired on November 2nd, 1999 to an audience of 3.5 million households.

[00:02:13] Some of the translated alternative titles in other languages for this episode were Cursed Beer, or as I like to pronounce it, Cursed Beer in Czech, Devil's Beverage in French, and this is my favorite, The Beer of Evil Thinking in German. And Germany just calling it out. Except they weren't turned evil, they were just turned cavemen. That's true. Very stupid. It's just like all reason. Yeah.

[00:02:43] Left. Devil's Beverage. Cursed Beer is good too. Yeah. Especially for Czech. Yeah. I love that it's now Czech and not Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia. I think this is around when that happened. Oh, yeah. We should look that up. It's easier to spell. Much. Czechoslovakia. Oh, gosh. All right.

[00:03:09] Oh, no, that's not when it happened, because I actually visited the Czech Republic when it was Czechoslovakia, I think, in 2001. So it hasn't split yet. But the language is still called Czech. That makes sense. We did it. Let's go back to the 90s. Better time. A more peaceful time, some might say.

[00:03:40] And Rob Santana. Rob Santana. I promise I'm fine. Yeah. Just to give viewers. I almost said viewers. Listeners. Just to give listeners an idea. It is the end of my work week and my brain is pretty much fried. So I apologize in advance.

[00:04:01] But the number one song in the US on November 2nd of 1999 was Still Smooth by Santana featuring Rob Thomas. That one, I think, might even be the number one song for the next episode, too. And then the number one song in the UK is Keep On Movin' by Five. I vaguely remember that song. Yeah, I like that song. Are they a boy band? Is that right? I just remember the song.

[00:04:30] That was fun. This was a time in my life when I went to a lot of bars and clubs. And so current music was something that I heard a lot more of. Now I'm like, what year is it? I don't know. I'm listening to Simon and Garfunkel. You know. That's fair. Best-selling books, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling is still the number one bestseller in fiction. And Tiz by Frank McCourt is still the number one bestseller in nonfiction.

[00:04:59] On the New York Times bestsellers list. And in the U.S. box office, this is probably a result of Halloween having been the weekend before. But House on Haunted Hill is the number one movie at the time. Followed by Fight Club in the number two spot. And then Double Jeopardy still at number three. People really like the idea of being able to kill your husband and get away with it. Yeah. That's wild. Not too shabby.

[00:05:29] Also during this week on November 3rd, the L.A. Lakers debuted in the Staples Center with a 103-88 win versus the Vancouver Grizzlies. On November 6th, Australians voted to keep the British monarch as their head of state in the Australian Republican referendum. I, for the life of me, can't understand why you would want to keep a monarchy. Yes, please. Rule over us. Okay.

[00:05:56] On November 8th, 1999, the 19th James Bond film, The World is Not Enough, premiered in Los Angeles starring Pierce Brosnan, Robert Carlyle, Robbie Coltrane, and Denise Richards. On November 8th, also, tenor Andrea Bocelli released his album titled Sacred Arias, which remains the world's best-selling classical album by a solo artist to this day. That's pretty cool. That is cool.

[00:06:25] After I pulled this fun fact, I went and added this album to my work playlist on Spotify. It was kind of nice. Kind of motivating. I didn't hate it. I'm sure. It's probably beautiful. So, let's get into this episode, which is yet another episode dealing with the theme that This socializing thing is brutal.

[00:06:53] In this one, we've got Buffy still mourning Parker. And she finally sort of makes the switch from, why won't Parker love me, to Parker sucks. I like it. She's entering the anger phase. She's rightfully realized that Parker is, you know, a jerk. Such a jerk. That little sh**. Whatever we're using to cover curse words.

[00:07:21] You should see my notes again for this week. I just, I can't stand him. But it's nice to see Buffy coming around. She's moving through and dealing with it. Yeah. And seeing the light. She meets a bunch of these, like, pretentious dudes. Which I, I'm like, oh, I know that guy. Yeah. Philosophy, bro. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:07:48] I definitely saw some sort of echoes of Good Will Hunting. Oh, absolutely. In that scene. But if any guy had tried to talk to me about, like, geopolitical ramifications at a bar in college, I would have laughed in his face. Yes. I was just like, who is, who, who is falling for this crap?

[00:08:13] Like, I guess the other, the other kind of like-minded sorority girls that we get the impression are, you know, part of this snooty elite, I guess, that the bar owner. Or is he the bar owner? Is he just the manager? I think he's the bar. Who knows? The pub. Jack. The campus bar. I don't, yeah. Yeah.

[00:08:39] But he clearly, like, doesn't love these little elitist pricks running around the pub. I mean, it's a theme. Which is legit. I don't know if they still call this, call it this, but when I was younger, people like my mother referred to it as town versus gown. Oh. It's this sort of running tension between the ivory tower of colleges and universities and the people who live in the town.

[00:09:08] And I lived in a college town for middle school and high school. It's the town where University of New Hampshire is. It's the town where University of New Hampshire is, which we called UNH University near home. Also, less charitably, University of No Hope. Oh, God. That's really not fair because it's a perfectly good school. I just wanted to get out of New Hampshire and away from my family. So I never even looked at it.

[00:09:37] But it's actually a very highly regarded school in several different departments. But I did grow up in this town where, you know, there was a university and it was fairly integrated with the town. It was a really small town. And there were frat houses in a row, like, along the street that led to elementary school. My gosh. You know, there were definitely times when you would be, like, walking to school or whatever. And there'd be, like, a dude passed out drunk on the lawn.

[00:10:05] Or you'd see three guys streak in front of the car when your mom was driving you to, like, volleyball practice or whatever. That's crazy. There was university stuff around. And then once I was in high school, it was, you know, cool to go to college parties and, like, you know, hang out at frat houses and stuff, which is just really dumb. But something that all high school kids do. Yeah. And. How to peel.

[00:10:30] And then I was on the other side of it when I went to college and I lived in a town that had very much of, like, a two-class setup. There was, like, a lot of poverty. And then there was, like, my college, which was fairly fancy. And in years prior, there had been the IBM World Headquarters there. Or regional headquarters. U.S. headquarters. I don't know. And so there were a lot of, like, executives and stuff. And it was on the Hudson River. And there were all these, like, mansions along the Hudson River, like the Vanderbilt Mansion, the Roosevelt Mansion.

[00:10:59] So there were these, like, examples of extreme wealth and privilege. And then this town that was decimated by when IBM moved its headquarters and there was all this poverty. And so the tension between the city and the college could get a little intense sometimes. I can't imagine.

[00:11:18] If, you know, once I was old enough, I would frequent, once I was old enough, I would frequent bars in the town and not just, like, on-campus bars and interact with locals. And they did not like us. They just thought everyone at that college was, like, a spoiled rich brat. And, you know, they weren't really wrong. Yeah.

[00:11:39] Well, and that's hard when you're not, you know, you're part of that, like, that sort of in-group but still on the outside. Like, we had that issue at our school where people that had to work, like, were part of whatever, the student work program. There were certain groups that looked down on those people. It drove me absolutely insane. Yeah. Like, I couldn't handle it.

[00:12:07] But it's similar vibes to places where, you know, like, I think of Montauk and the Hamptons where there's this whole, like, town-y stereotype of the people who work there and serve there and live there year-round. Same on the tape. Yeah. Like, it's just, it's wild to see. And you can understand why resentment builds up. Especially you have this cheeky little shit.

[00:12:34] Like, you know, what were you two talking about? Like, I'm sure it was this very important conversation. And what do you say, like, debating the geopolitical ramifications of bioengineering or some crap? I don't know. It was dumb. And then- It was just nonsense. Yeah, let's do an experiment. You know, B is going to reject A. And he's just doing everything in his power to make Xander feel small.

[00:13:01] And even though it's Xander and a lot of times he does stuff I don't like, I still care about him. And- I wanted to punch that guy in the throat. Yeah. I forgot about, because I, hmm. I hadn't rewatched this one in a while, but as soon as he started talking and talking down to him like that, I was just like- Foamy. Oh no. I can't curse. That's all right. I will, I'll fix it in post. I have a couple of things picked out to fix it with. Here's, here's one.

[00:13:31] Foamy. And here's another one. Foamy. Foamy. Foamy. Two different versions. Let's see, I also have- Foamy. Parker bad. That one in particular, I was like, Bobby doesn't kill him, right? I would remember that. I was like, I'd remember if- Yeah, we'd all remember if she killed Parker. But, yeah, the poor Xander, right?

[00:14:01] He's just like, he already feels left out because all his friends went to college and he didn't. And then he's like, oh, I got a job on campus. So now I'm part of your life. And then- Which was so sweet. To get treated like that. Yeah. Like, he was so excited. And I do love his supposedly terrible fake ID. And when he's talking to Willie, he's like, what gave it away? And she just deadpans looking at it. Yeah. I was like, oh, Zand.

[00:14:30] But obviously, the guy who runs the pub was like, fine. You don't care. It's like, he went through the effort to give me a fake ID. You're fine. Like, that's good enough. And also, I need, you know, an accessory to attempted murder or whatever they would charge him with if the cops knew what he had done. Because- What the hell?

[00:14:51] Casting a spell on five people that turns them into cave people is really reckless at best. Well, he's like tampering with commercial products. Yeah. Like, that's what I started thinking about. He should at least lose his liquor license. At the very least. And he's just like casually, my brother's a warlock. He showed me how to do it. I was like, what? You are a jerk. Yeah. He is a piece of work.

[00:15:20] But those guys, like, it was very much Goodwill hunting vibes. Yeah. Except for the fact that poor Xander couldn't then, you know, step in and Matt Damon them. Yeah. He didn't get to either outsmart them or do the how do you like them apples thing. But he did get to lock them in a car. That was funny. Who said, whose van is that? Whose minivan is that? I don't know. Yeah. But it's like, that's resourceful. Like, lock them in a car.

[00:15:50] That's a good way to contain them. They won't be able to figure out how to get out. I was proud of Xander this episode. Like, I liked Xander this episode. That Paula girl that he was talking to had some of the most unfortunate bangs I've ever seen in my life. You have to grade on a yardstick for Buffy the Vampire Slayer because of Buffy's jinks from season three. That's true. Those were not great.

[00:16:14] But these were like those really terrible, like, baby bangs that were still somehow managing to, like, curl inward. Her whole look was really irritating. I was like, I would, I just, from looking at this woman, I don't think we would ever have anything to talk about. No. Nope.

[00:16:33] And it's funny, you know, the older you get, I'm assuming, as I'm about to turn 37, like, it's just easier to tell right away or be able to recognize, I don't vibe with you and that's okay. Yeah. You go do your thing and I'll do my thing. That's cool. That's cool. I don't think Paula and I would get along either. But, you know, she was responding to Xander's mild flirtation. She was. He was being thoroughly appropriate.

[00:17:03] That you're so sharp joke was cute. Right? And she was, you know, that, that was going well. And then this jerk steps in and is all like, no, no, no, no, no. What a dick. I was like, come on, man. And I, I was a little, I was a little worried when Buffy decided to just hang out with them. I was like, can you not hang out drinking in a bar with like four college guys that you don't know? Like, can we not do that?

[00:17:32] Like that automatically makes my stomach turn. Just thinking about it. For anyone but Buffy, it would be wildly dangerous. Yep. Right? And so you and me being normal human women, our instincts are like, whoa, that's dangerous. Don't, don't ever leave. Like at least Xander was there to keep an eye on her. Yes. Normally I would not want Xander to like step in and be like, Buffy don't talk to these boys, but Buffy don't talk to these boys.

[00:18:01] This, I was like, yeah, Xander, you stay, you watch her. Like she's in a bad spot emotionally. Cause I don't think she would have hung around and drank with them and sought out that validation. If she wasn't in a bad spot because of Parker, who I want to call by another nickname that I have for him in my head, but I won't. Like I know what that might be.

[00:18:24] And, and she had just seen Parker and had that conversation with Riley where she, I think finally got it that Parker is just a serial like conquester. Like he, he just, he, he just, she's already seen him move on to like three different girls. Right. This is like the third girl that she's, that we've seen her see him with. So it's like, it finally settles into her brain.

[00:18:51] Like, Oh, he really does just collect girls. Yep. Like he's just kind of sociopathic almost to a certain extent. And poor Riley, like Buffy is, Willow is telling Buffy that there are better men out there that aren't controlled by, you know, their penis essentially. And Riley has been standing in front of Buffy demonstrating how he is this quote unquote good guy a couple of times.

[00:19:20] And she's not even paying attention to him. And I love how he says, like when he's talking about Parker, that boy should have his attention span checked. I was like, all right, grandpa. Like what? Where is this coming? Like he's a senior. Is he a senior or is he a grad student? I have always told myself he was a senior because that makes it less weird. Yeah. The age difference is a little annoying, but then you think about Buffy's last boyfriend. I know. It's a little, it's a little different.

[00:19:49] I thought he was a senior, but that's also probably because the TAs at my school were seniors in that, you know, major. But I don't know, like he's talking to her about how his dad had always, you know, give it like talking about this great advice his dad had given him. And this much better man is literally staring Buffy in the face and she doesn't see him. Yeah. She's just caught on Parker.

[00:20:18] And, you know, I couldn't help but think of all the times that there were the guys, you know, that I should have been interested in. And then the guy that for whatever reason held my attention and for better or for worse, Buffy is having a, you know, true college experience. Yep. And is going through it and really learning from it.

[00:20:43] And how relatable were her daydreams to maybe not the saving his life part, but like thinking about the scenarios where he's coming back begging for forgiveness. With his open shirt and Haagen-Dazs. Yeah. Increasing numbers of gifts. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's a realistic thing. All of us have the, and then I'll bump into him and it'll be a day when I look really good and my hair is perfect.

[00:21:11] And, and he'll, and I'll act like all nonchalant and, and he'll be like, Oh, Penny. And, you know, we've all been there. We've all went, gone through those, those fantasies. And the truth is when you randomly bump into an ex, it's never like that. It's always like you're struggling to get your suitcase off the train after having slept in a train station and it's raining. And he's like, Oh, Hey, how you doing? And he's got his new girlfriend with him. That's how it always. Yeah, that's true.

[00:21:42] Oh gosh. I think I think my worst, like I ran into an ex situation was I dated a guy that lived in the town where I went to law school. And I had broken up with him and it was not a great breakup. And I saw him after I took the bar exam.

[00:22:05] It was the last day I had shown up in like sweatpants and a t-shirt and a side ponytail with a headband because I hadn't brushed my hair. Like I looked like a nightmare. And I walked into the liquor store after the bar to get like wine. And I was standing there holding like this gigantic bottle of wine.

[00:22:31] And he walked in with his new girlfriend who looked like she had stepped out of the Victoria's Secret model catalog. And I was just like, okay, well, here we are. And I was just like, well, I'm going to be a lawyer. So this is fine. It's totally fine. But poor Buffy is just having a hard time.

[00:22:52] I do appreciate that for once they don't pretend that we live in a world where Buffy isn't absolutely so pretty that boys would be hitting on her in bars. Right. And so we finally get to see that like that is indeed a realistic thing that would happen to Buffy on a college campus is that guys would be like, you're pretty. Come talk to us. Seriously, when that one guy, she's like, oh, I'm sorry. I've been bumping into people all day.

[00:23:20] And he's like, I can't imagine anybody minding. And I was like, true. Fair. Like especially men or people who are attracted to women. Like you turn around and Buffy's there. It's like, oh, that's okay. Hi. Yeah. Don't you worry. I'm not gay. But if I got bumped into by Sarah Michelle Gellar, I might turn gay. I might just giggle. Yeah, I would probably giggle. That would be my reaction.

[00:23:48] But that's also just, you know, an inherent almost biological thing. We have this inherent bias towards attractiveness. Yeah. Beauty is an evolutionary technique for our species to like identify. It's a whole thing. But lucky for Buffy, these guys were not super creepy or predatory. They really just were trying to. I know.

[00:24:13] They were trying to impress her with their like philosophy 101. Vocabularies. When that one guy started to say, well, Thomas Aquinas. And they all shut him up. I was just like, oh, I'm having flashbacks. Yeah. I'm like, oh, I've been at that party. And I kind of loved it. Like there's something about like pretentious academic speak that I do kind of miss and love.

[00:24:41] And, you know, not pompous. And I don't know. If you're going to use the word geopolitical and ramifications, like you're a jerk. But I do think it's fun to sit around with your friends drinking beer and like talk about theory or whatever. Talking about stuff that really, I don't know, either matters or doesn't matter one bit.

[00:25:06] And it's just fun to like think it through with other people who are. Like this. Yeah. Like, honestly, when we had our little Scooby get together minus Jim at the lake, sitting around and being able to talk with you and Sam. And then when Greg came by, talk about things that we just kind of nerded out over stuff that I don't think other people in my real life would appreciate me talking about.

[00:25:35] So I get that part of it, but it's that when it when it crosses over into that elitist, like I'm better than you. Yeah. Type thing is when clearly some people have a problem with it. Yeah. And, you know, Jack was pushed just far and he's not wrong. Some of your patrons are turning into cavemen. They had it coming. I get it.

[00:26:04] It's just as we find time and time again throughout the series, people who try to use magic to handle something small or some real life problem, it almost always blows out of control. Yeah. The funny thing is that of all the places that were like destroyed by these cavemen and people who were hurt by these cavemen, Jack was not one of them. He doesn't get beat up. The pub isn't burned down. He has no consequences. Just some other random cafe. And we never see him again.

[00:26:33] So I'm always like, does he just get away with that? Or does like Giles quietly go in the background and like get him deported or something? It's like, screw this guy. Oh, gosh. I. I did like Xander's little. Line at the end when he's talking to Buffy and they're all standing outside after the fire. He's like, you know, and was there a lesson in all this? Like, what have we learned about beer?

[00:27:03] What do we learn about beer? Good. Just as long as that's clear. It's so cute. I do. I love that. His little like the good is just so quick. It's sincere. And then when he says, you know, I think the boys in the car are contained for the time being. This will give them some time to ponder the geopolitical ramifications of being mean to me. Yeah. It's like, see, it's better. Like Xander is witty. Xander's not stupid.

[00:27:31] No, he's very quick. They try to make him that character sometimes. But I really, I love this version of Xander. I like that, you know, he's. He did a lot of good stuff. He ran into a burning building. Yeah. That's brave. And rescued a bunch of people. Like without any hesitation. He's Neville Longbottom. Everybody doubted him. This is a little extreme. But everybody doubted him and thought he should be in Hufflepuff.

[00:28:00] But really, he's a Gryffindor because he's brave and showed initiative. It's been a long week, Penny. Yeah, that's fine. Yeah, Xander didn't objectify anybody this week. He didn't say anything creepy or skeezy to anyone. When he found out what was going on with the, you know, the beer making warlock brother guy, he told him off and then immediately went to like deal with it all. You're a bad man. What did you say?

[00:28:30] You're a very bad man. Yeah, very bad man. And then, you know, when Buffy in her cave state sort of was like voicemail nice, he didn't get all gross about that. He didn't make like, you know, what's the fur bikini that Sophia Loren wore? I don't remember what movie that is. But like he didn't make a reference to that. No, he wasn't being creepy. He was great. And when he's like, Giles, don't make cave slayer angry.

[00:28:59] I just fell out of my chair. That was so funny. That whole exchange was gold. And I, you know, we talked about this. I used to really just not care for this episode. But I think I had also only seen it maybe once or twice all the way through. I had a much greater appreciation for it this time around. I've now watched it three times in the last week. So it's lighter.

[00:29:27] You know, it's a much lighter episode than the ones we're going to get later in the season. But that's great because you need balance. And it doesn't have any important like long term plot points, really. There's not like, oh, if you miss beer bad, you won't understand what's happening later in the season. Like, it's fine. That's true. It's just delightful. It's almost a standalone because anybody could come in and be like, oh, I get what's happening with Buffy and this guy. Oh, no, cavemen. And then the rest is just funny action.

[00:29:57] So, like, that's great. It's true. It is interesting that the, you know, the group of men, the type of college student that this guy was seemingly targeting were the elites per se who are, you know, kind of pretentious coming in acting like they know everything and they're better than everyone. When it would have been so easy to take, like, I don't know, like a group of stoners or a group of, like, dumb jocks.

[00:30:27] Yeah. And turn them into the cavemen in another way. But I kind of like this overall message where beer is, like, the great equalizer. Yeah. And that everyone is stupid under the right circumstances. Yep. Or wrong circumstances. It brings out your base instincts, essentially. And also the very, very subtle, very subtle theme of the id and releasing the id. Yeah. So subtle.

[00:30:56] They didn't hit us over the head with it repeatedly or anything. Yeah. At all. This is the one reason I'm really sad that, I mean, there's not just one reason I'm sad. Sam couldn't join us this week. I know. But it's because she is a PhD in psychology. And I assumed that, therefore, she would know a little bit about the id, the ego, and the superego more than I do. But if you don't know, it was popularized.

[00:31:21] And he realized those terms were popularized or created by Freud, who is often acknowledged to be the father of, like, modern-day psychotherapy or talk therapy. And he theorized that the mind, which is sort of different from the brain, the mind is like, anyway. Yeah. That the mind could be divided into three sections, the id, the ego, and the superego. Now, Professor Walsh describes the id as the pleasure principle. It wants.

[00:31:51] But that, I think, is a little short. It's more like primal needs and instincts. So the id is hunger. It's lust. It's anger. It's fear. It's... Well, I think of it, what is it, Maslow's hierarchy of... Yeah, sort of the bottom of the hierarchy. Yeah, like that kind of corresponds with that in my head. And I think of it as, like, it's the things that are tied to your brainstem and your lizard brain, your sort of amygdala emotions.

[00:32:21] Like, true instincts. Yeah. Well, and I think about, we talk about survivors of abuse. There's a lot of, quote-unquote, living in the id, you hear, of people being in survival mode. Because you are, you know, for whatever reason, you're stuck in that sense of just trying to survive, making sure you have... I cannot talk... Making sure you have shelter, safety.

[00:32:50] And it can be really hard to break out of that. That's another... This is kind of a tangent, but that's another reason why it drives me crazy when we hear people say, well, why don't you just leave? Or why didn't they just leave? Because my executive functioning has been crippled. Yeah. So the ego and the superego, the ego is the part of your mind that makes rational decisions. That says, like, oh, I shouldn't eat the 18th Girl Scout cookie.

[00:33:18] Or I should turn the stove off rather than just avoid the hot burner. And then the superego is, according to Freud, your morals and ethics. The conscience. The part of your brain that decides right from wrong. Now, that... Freud was, like, over 100 years ago. So he has been contradicted, debunked, built upon. There's a lot of different schools of thought within psychology.

[00:33:47] But the id ego superego has wedged itself deep into Western pop culture and sort of Western thought. People really, really hold on to it. And a lot of entertainment uses the three symbolically or directly like it is in this episode. Well, it is kind of a handy device. You know? And thinking about it in the context of Buffy, I like the idea of, you know, like with the three slayers.

[00:34:15] Where you've got Kendra representing superego. Where she's all about following the rules. She's very much so, like, she's into the training aspect of everything. She's very disciplined. And then on the other end of the spectrum, with the id, you have Faith. Who acts purely on her pleasure center. And what she wants to do.

[00:34:43] And then you have Buffy as the ego kind of balancing things out. And it works with Buffy and the Scoobies to a certain extent, too. Where, you know, I guess Xander would probably be the id in most cases. Especially in the earlier seasons. And then you have either Giles or... Probably Giles would be superego and Willow would be ego. But it's just, I don't know, it's kind of a handy device and lens to look through.

[00:35:13] It's used a lot in narrative fiction. They're so heavy handed with it. It's ridiculous. With this episode. Buffy's taking that poor girl's food? Yeah. I would have lost my mind if someone just stole my sandwich from my hand and started eating it. Yeah. Although, if that had happened to me in college, I would have been like, is this performance art? Yeah. That's true.

[00:35:41] There was a lot of performance art going on on my campus. That's funny. So, that probably would have been my first guess. That did kind of make me want a sandwich, though. Oh, yeah. Man, it looks pretty good. I just want to take a moment to enjoy Buffy's look in the pub scene. That T-shirt she was wearing with the pink on top and the lace and her hair up. She looked fantastic.

[00:36:08] And then I also want to complain about the skirt that Willow is wearing. The long skirt with the curtain-looking ruffles at the bottom. It's awful. Just, ugh. Don't do that to her. I also don't believe Willow would pick that out. I do not believe college Willow would go and seek out that skirt. It was not attractive or, yeah, just a dumb outfit.

[00:36:37] Willow is a better person than I am. Or a stronger person than I am. Because if my boyfriend had been staring at the lead singer of a band, like he was, and then came and told me he was going to be with that band for a second night in a row, I would be at that show. Yeah. There is no way I would have been like, no, I'm not going to go.

[00:37:06] And I get maybe she's trying to be, you know, talk herself down and not overthink, but I would be at that. I would not be able to help myself, especially college Kara. There's no way. Yeah. I would have wanted to be at the show too. Even though I think Willow believes that Oz would never cheat on her.

[00:37:32] But I would not just, I would want to see what's happening. I would want to keep my eyes on Veruca all the time. You could tell from every vibe she gives off that she's not to be trusted. She was like eyeing Oz throughout, like while singing. It wasn't just him. Like there is some way I would want to observe. Like I don't want to go and do anything. I just want to go and gather more information. Yeah.

[00:38:01] But she also has that problem where she can't help herself from like being awkward and dorky. And then Veruca is mean about it. Yeah. And maybe there was part of her that was like, I can't take another night of Veruca calling me a groupie. Like I can't. Also fair. But then it's just, I don't know. Then she's all riled up and angry at men when she runs into Parker. And the look she gets on her face is like, ah, here's someone I could take it out on. Yeah.

[00:38:32] Which is pretty nice. It's a pretty great scene, right? Because first, you know, she confronts him and then they start talking and he's like. So I have a clip from this that I really want to talk about. Nice. I haven't found the one yet. I've yet to find a girl that I can just, you know, sit with. Feeling totally at ease, spewing whatever's on my mind. Or even sit with comfortably in silence.

[00:39:03] And so Parker, like a lot of dudes, think that I'm a womanizer because I'm just looking for the right girl who will inspire me to be a monogamist. And I'll finally feel comfortable with this magical, perfect girl that I'm looking for. But the truth is, if you only ever spend a week with any one person, you're never going to find a deeper connection. Because that's not what he's actually doing.

[00:39:29] And it also sounded pretty rehearsed. Like he's used that line so many times. And I remember the first time I watched it being like, is Willow falling for this? And then of course she's not. And that's so delightful. When she's like, you know, you're id boy. And like the whole thing. How cullible do you think I am? I was like, oh, thank God. Yeah. It's great.

[00:39:56] The look on Parker's face is like, oops, I overplayed my hand. Well, he is also one of those guys that rationalizes his behavior to where he's a nice guy. Like he never promised her that they were going to date. Like that's how he rationalizes it is that, you know, there's nothing wrong with living in the moment.

[00:40:20] The difference is like we heard him, which was an intentional choice, obviously by the writers. We heard him tell Buffy about his father who had died. And we hear him telling this other girl the same thing. Like this is clearly something I don't care whether or not it's true. It might be true that his dad passed away. But the difference is how these women or any human being with empathy would naturally interpret that, right?

[00:40:49] Like he is saying, you know, my father died and now I'm all about living for now. Where Buffy and these other girls are like, oh, this he's being vulnerable with me. Like this is something you wouldn't just share with anyone. He's seeking, you know, some sort of emotional connection here where that's not him being vulnerable. He's weaponizing it because he, it's, it is like it's pure emotional manipulation.

[00:41:17] And it drives me crazy sitting there listening to him. I mean, like, you know, I never lied. I'm sorry if she, you know, if there was miscommunication or she misunderstood me. And I'm just like, you son of a bitch. Yeah. And he said this thing that, that I have heard a lot of men say in, for example, my criminal law class, when we were talking about consent and rape and the legal definitions of rape.

[00:41:47] And a lot of guys were like, well, you shouldn't have to like be at explicit consent because that really ruins the magic of the moment. Oh, yeah. Right? So Parker's version of that. People shouldn't have to ask first. Are you going to be eyeing other prospects tomorrow? People shouldn't have to preface casual sex with, just so you know, I'll never grow any older with you. He should be a lawyer. It takes the fire out of it. Yeah.

[00:42:16] He probably does go on to be a lawyer. He's a history major. One of the kinds that I hate. He'll feed right into that. It's, but that argument of like, if I stop to get consent, or if I tell the girl that I don't have intentions of having a long-term relationship, it takes the fire out. What they really mean is, then she might not sleep with me. It's safer if I trick her. Yep. And then I get the sex. And then like, oopsie, if you didn't mean it. Like, ugh.

[00:42:45] And it's why the conversation about consent among like my peer group was infuriating in the 80s, 90s, 2000s. And I have seen a difference in millennials and even more in Generation Z, where consent is being taught and people are understanding that the whole concept of enthusiastic assent has been more prevalent in the last 10 years.

[00:43:15] Yeah. In the 90s, it was like, no means no. Like, we were really in the basic level of like, if she says no. It was still a lot like that even when I was in college and when I went to college from 2006 to 2010. Yeah. Like, we were really starting to, you know, understand it better and explore it better. Like, I went to a small liberal arts school, so I think we were also a little more progressive.

[00:43:46] But seeing people talk about it the way they do now is so wildly different than how when I was growing up, too. Yeah. Where it's like the enthusiastic yes. If it's not an enthusiastic yes, then it's the yes. Like, you know, I don't feel like it. That's no. I don't know. That's no. I'm tired. That's no. No. Like, there's – that was not the messaging when I was in the 90s. It was simply like, if she says no, that means no. And if she's unconscious, that's also no.

[00:44:16] And a lot of guys were like, well, how do you know if it's no? And it's like, ew. Like, ew. Well, and the notion of – I feel like back when you were in college or when I was in college, the idea of – what do they call it now? Like, stealthing, which is sexual assault, where a guy will remove a condom. Oh, yeah. Halfway through or make you, like, act like they're putting one on and don't have one.

[00:44:46] That would have been a really funny thing that happened, you know, in college if my friends and I were talking about it. But I don't think we would have gotten to the point of that's also sexual assault. Yeah. I don't know if I would have articulated that until much later, like, in law school when we were really thinking about it. Yeah. Being able to really, you know, dive into the parameters of consent. But Parker is so far off.

[00:45:15] Like, tricking women with, like, false, you know, future – he didn't really future fake, but, like, he also really made it seem like they were forming an emotional connection that most people would think means, like, there will be another time to get together and another one. Like, you don't think that, like, I'm going to have sex with this guy after this week of intense hanging out, and then that'll be the end.

[00:45:38] Like, and it reminds me also of a lot of guys on dating sites these days who lie about their political affiliation because they say women don't want to date guys who are conservatives or MAGA. And so they lie about it, and then they're like, but I wouldn't get any dates if I tell the truth. And it's like, yeah. Maybe reevaluate your personal beliefs, bud.

[00:46:02] But that's, like, you shouldn't because lying about who you are – it's the same as, like, guys who take their wedding ring off and they're like, well, like, girls won't talk to me because they know I'm married. It's like, yeah. It's like, that's the point, man. Like, you're supposed to – like, your need to, like, get women under any circumstances is not actually a good argument against telling the truth. It's not like, but I want it. Like, oh, okay, that's all right then. Lying's fine. I guess it's fine. Yeah, go ahead and lie.

[00:46:32] I mean, it's for sex. It's like, now that you put it that way. It takes the fire out of it. It takes the magic out of it if she knows that I'm married. It takes the magic out of it if she knows that I'm not who I say I am. It takes the magic out of it if she knows I voted for Trump. Like, yeah. That makes me ragey. You know, it takes the magic out of it when she finds all that out. And she knows you lied to her. And then she's like, I can never trust a man again. Like, that's what happens. Yeah.

[00:47:00] And then they're like, why won't you even talk to me or give me a chance? It's like because so many men lie. What happened? Well, I think that's part of why personally – like, Parker, I think, is objectively just a phony head. But he makes me angry personally because I feel like the term empath has been bastardized these days. Oh, yeah. People use it for so many weird things.

[00:47:25] But I have always – and I think it's the neurodivergence or what. But I have always been a very sensitive person. And I am also typically a pretty private person.

[00:47:39] And there have been a couple of times where I've met the wrong type of guy where they would share something that I would never tell someone casually and behave in that way where I was just like, oh, that must mean they really trust me or they really care or something like that. And it's happened twice where I was just like, damn it, I did not let this happen to me again.

[00:48:07] But that type of person, you know, I feel like it was a huge life lesson for me being able to see the red flags. And I hate watching Buffy go through it. But it's also really nice to think that this, you know, this superhero essentially is also vulnerable to other typical human experience like being lied to.

[00:48:36] Makes me feel better about the times that I have fallen for that kind of thing. It's like, well, Buffy fell for it. That's true. Buffy did it. And she's like a perfect superhero with shiny shampoo hair. Like, ugh. When I – I don't know. It's just – it's a rite of passage. I don't know if there's very many people except for those freaks that we've talked about who like, I met my husband in eighth grade and we've been happy to ever see.

[00:49:06] Like those people. But anyone who's done any amount of dating has encountered a Parker. And it's not to say that it's only men doing it to women. Women do this to men too. Yeah. And I assume men to men and women to women and non-binary people to non-binary people. But our experience has primarily been with men doing this kind of thing. And I think that there's been a lot of like cultural representations of it happening too that are treated as comedy.

[00:49:37] Oh, yeah. 100%. Well, think about the entirety of the movie Wedding Crashers. Yeah. It's just lie, lie, lie, lie, lie. It's so gross when you really think about it. But we see – it's like this funny thing that – primarily in entertainment – that men do to try to get women to sleep with them. Isn't it funny how horny men are? They'll do anything. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Like that type of thing.

[00:50:05] Reducing – if I were a man, I feel like I would find that offensive. But I don't know. I'd be curious to hear. Too bad we don't have Jim here. Yeah. Although I feel like I know what Jim might say. But a lot of men – like we know that there are good, decent men who find that behavior as equally as appalling as we do. It's just entertainment-wise and TV shows and movies, there's those really obnoxious stereotypes.

[00:50:34] Like I think of American Pie and how popular – Yeah, I was just thinking about that. You know, that's pretty messed up. And people wonder why there's this distrust a lot of women have in men. We don't only see it or experience it in real life. It's fed to you through entertainment too. And I'm so happy that Willow saw right through it. Yeah.

[00:51:04] That was a satisfying moment when she tells him off. And the look on his face was so precious because he was like, oh, no. This always works. Yeah. It's like, oh, crap. Yeah. Like, what am I doing? And you know, he's – I like to think that this whole experience, Parker grew from it. But then I remember that there is an episode in a couple of episodes where he says something really disgusting. Yep.

[00:51:32] And I – but maybe eventually he grew. I keep reminding myself that he's like – But he almost died. He's like 20 years old. So hopefully he outgrows this garbage and goes on to be a nicer person.

[00:51:47] Because to give just the tiniest bit of defense to Parker, he has also been fed a diet of entertainment and narratives that tell him that gathering sexual conquests makes him masculine, makes him successful. It's like cool to do it. He's been red-pilled. It's funny.

[00:52:08] You know, like he doesn't – I don't know if he's going to realize like the depth of how like jerky, creepy he is for several years. Because unfortunately for most men, they don't have the realization until they have a daughter. Yeah. And then they're like, oh, no. That was creepy what I did. That's a conversation for a whole other podcast. But Parker just –

[00:52:39] Hopefully he grew out of it. Because he obviously – he's smart. Yeah. Like he's – He's cute in that like floppy way that I really like. Parker would have destroyed me. Yeah, I would have followed for Parker in a second. It would have been such a problem. So I – like that brown hair. Like gone. Yeah. Goner.

[00:53:02] Which is why it's so frustrating because it's just like, bro, you can be up front with women that you don't want anything serious and you're still going to have some casual sex. Like just be honest. Yeah. That's all. There's also a thing I've heard where there are some people – That it's not like a conquest anymore. Yeah. They don't want to have casual sex with someone who wants to have casual sex because they think those people are slutty. Oh, yeah.

[00:53:29] They want to have casual sex with someone who's looking for a relationship because that's like a higher value woman. Madonna and the whore complex crap. And also the conquest of like talking someone into it and the fun of seeing if your con will work, you know, if you could trick somebody. There's like a lot of aspects to it. That's so much worse. Yeah. It's gross. Parker, we don't like you. No. No, no. Man, I would love to see what Angel would do to Parker.

[00:54:00] Oh, my God. It'd be so funny because there would be a certain amount of Angel who would be like, you're not even like enough of a thing for me to care about. Like, you're just this like aunt. But then he'd be like, but you hurt Buffy. So. Yep. Yep. Gonna have to throw you off a building. Well, and it's just, I don't know. And poor Buffy. I think it's very realistic that she also just didn't go into automatically hating him.

[00:54:28] She spent a good chunk of this episode kind of pining over him and still internalizing everything. Like, what's wrong with me? Yeah. Why didn't he like me? Why wasn't I enough? Which is so painful. Yeah. To watch her go through. It's the flip side of the coin, you know, of the Parker is waiting to meet this perfect girl who will inspire him to not be a creep. Right?

[00:54:54] The other side of that is he must be being a creep because I'm not good enough. Yeah. It's like, I just didn't, I did something wrong. Or I wasn't appealing enough. Or, you know, she has that moment with Angel after they slept together and he, you know, unbeknownst to her becomes Angelus where she's like, was I not good? Or was it not good? Yeah. And he just takes that opportunity to absolutely crush her.

[00:55:23] And then Buffy sleeps with the second man in her life that she's ever slept with. And it's this, another horrible situation where he just changes and is no longer the man she slept with to a much lesser degree. But she's just, it's a rough time romantically for Buffy. It's a really unfortunate follow up to Angel.

[00:55:50] And I do, we are nearing the end of the Parker storyline. This basically gives Buffy the closure she needs to move on. So I'm glad because I'm a little tired of Parker. We've hated on him all season and it's been fun, but you know, it's time to move on. I know. I will say, you could bleep this. This is the last note I hope I ever have to write about Parker.

[00:56:17] Is when he said to Willow, I'm impressed that you care so much about her. You're a good friend. I wrote, oh, fully all the way off. Like, you have got to be kidding me. It's just like, kid him, Willow. Kid him. Yeah. So obnoxious. And the fact that Buffy gets to smash him over the head, not once, but twice. Yeah. It's super satisfying.

[00:56:44] The final shot of this episode is one of my favorites where Buffy has conked Parker on the head. The four main characters look at him. They all sort of tilt their head and then they just walk away, leaving him on the ground. It's just, it's so perfect. They just are like, I guess we're done with that. All right. It's not even clear to me if Giles knows who Parker is, but he's like, we don't care about this person. Yeah. He's like, I guess we don't like that guy. Yeah. Whatever.

[00:57:10] And even though Giles is only in this episode very briefly, he is such a wonderful part of this episode. I love, you know, obviously imagine Xander going to Giles, be like, we have a problem. Yeah. And they go over to Buffy's dorm and she's just sitting there. What? When they flash to her spinning in the chair and falling off. It's so cute.

[00:57:39] And when she says, you know, Buffy want beer and he's like, you can't have beer. And she's just like, want beer. And that's when Xander says like, Giles, don't make cave slayer unhappy. And Buffy looks at Giles and like punches herself in the chest and goes, Buffy strong. And he's like, yes, Buffy, very strong. It's so stupid.

[00:58:06] When she asks for the television, I'm like, put her in front of the TV. Just let her sit there. Let the TV babysit her because that. Want people, where people go. It's like, here, Buffy, watch like Family Matters or something. I don't know. Yeah. We'll put on a nature documentary. Just sit. Just distract yourself. I love the scene between Giles and Xander. I can't believe you served Buffy that beer. I didn't know it was evil. You knew it was beer. Well, excuse me, mister.

[00:58:35] I spent the 60s in an electric Kool-Aid funky Satan groove. It was the early 70s and you should know better. I'm not the dad of her. Buffy's a grownup. I like how he doesn't even go, nuh-uh. He just corrects him on the time. It's the 70s. Yeah. So great. That's one of my favorite Xander moments of the episode. And there are many. He has a lot of good moments. Did have a really good episode. And I do like that I'm a sucker for that. That's probably also a problem.

[00:59:04] The protective crap from men. I think that the reason, there's a fine line between cute protective and annoying protective. Oh, yeah. And we've seen Xander on either side of it. This is a case where his instincts told him there's a problem. And then he saw the problem and he acted on the problem. And it was appropriate to be protective. He's a good friend. Very good friend. He's not doing it out of some weird convoluted sense of ownership of Buffy.

[00:59:34] Like he's done in the past. Or jealousy. Like keeping her away from other, you know, potential sex partners. This is. He's just like, that's my friend. She's drunk. Those are four guys she doesn't know. Like this is not. It's time for this to be done. Yeah. I don't like how he just sends her to walk home by herself when she's clearly like. Completely schnockered. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, I guess you guys don't have cell phones, but could you not like call Willow and see if she's at your door? Or like safe rides on campus. Yeah. Something.

[01:00:04] Just sending her off. We had a van that drove around campus at night on like a set route. And so you could like catch a ride in the van. So you didn't have to walk alone in the dark at night. And. That's nice. I knew a lot of people who drove the, who like their job was to drive the van and they would like leave campus and go to 7-Eleven and like, just like blow off the job. She's like, okay, great guys.

[01:00:33] It was great in the winter. I never used the safe van in good weather, but when it was cold, man. Yes. I need a ride to the other side of campus. That's funny. Oh gosh. I mean, I do. I don't know. Xander. Xander. We see, we've talked about this already a little before in other episodes. We were, we're always pretty hard on Xander and I don't think that's a problem because he's pretty funny sometimes, but he does grow.

[01:01:00] He is still young and it's nice to see him care for Buffy in a truly platonic way. He is just looking out for her. There's no ulterior motive. There's nothing. Even like when you said she, she was like, boys smell nice or boys smell good. I was like, oh crap. But he was just like, see Giles and Giles was like, okay, we're not going to leave you alone with her. Yeah.

[01:01:28] Like that's probably also not good. Yeah. But it was just, I don't know. It was kind of refreshing. It was a great episode for him. It's really like a top Xander episode. And I know a lot of people don't like this episode. Some people think it's like the worst Buffy episode of like of all. And I'm like, how can you say that when there's that episode where the ghosts in Riley's frat house come to life? Oh my God. I hate that. Yeah.

[01:01:57] That is the worst episode. But I happen to love this episode. I think it's light and fun, but still has a lot of heart. And we get to see a pre Obama administration, Cal Penn in a really just hideous haircut, just such a bad haircut. And, uh, you know, before he was famous and I, I enjoy seeing people before they were stars

[01:02:26] that always cracks me up. I'm like, oh my God, look, it's Kumar. You know, like he posted on Instagram about like a bunch of TV shows he did in the nineties and shouted out a couple of shows like where he was able to get some minor characters that weren't like racist as hell. Yeah. And this episode was one of the ones. Yeah. Nothing about his character is about him being Indian. Nothing about it. Which is so nice.

[01:02:53] And I was just like, God, that must've been infuriating to have to deal with, but seeing him here, I was like, this is nice. Cause, and it's just a nice, you know, fun role. I would imagine being on a show like Buffy. That was a huge hit at the time too. So it must've felt like, oh my God, it might be my big break. Like it must've been a huge deal to get a small speaking role on the show. And they did a good job. Like those guys. Yeah. They were hilarious.

[01:03:23] The one, I can't, when they finally are like walking around on campus and I can't remember if one guy either falls out of the tree or the branch hits him or something. Well, one of them gets hit by a car. Oh, that was bad. But the one, it was like something with the branch and he's just standing there guffawing, laughing. And it's, it was so funny. I was like, oh my gosh, I was not expecting to laugh this hard. Yeah. It's a really funny episode.

[01:03:53] And the effects are definitely aged, but not that bad. Like it was, the effects worked well enough to tell the story. Like the cavemen looked like cavemen and it all worked for me. It was very funny. Oh, one of my favorite moments is when they show the closeup of the, of the like beer being, you know, spell cast on. Oh yeah.

[01:04:17] And it's like this crazy Rube Goldberg chemistry set with like spirals and flames and Erlenmeyer flasks. And, you know, like I love that kind of thing. That makes me so happy. I just. So like, I don't know, weird sciencey, like just fun. Yeah. It's great. Right. Well, and the music at the beginning, at first I forgot it was a daydream. Oh.

[01:04:41] And I was just like, this sounds almost like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, like video game-esque with some of the noises. And then realizing she was in a daydream. I was like, oh, that was actually a pretty interesting way to depict that and distinguish it. Because Buffy is imagining that she's like, you know, kicking ass and taking names. Of course, it's going to have video game-esque like sound effects. I feel like I've said like a lot this episode.

[01:05:10] Don't worry about it. We'll see when I edit it. I enjoyed the music that they used when Buffy had turned into Cave Slayer. Oh, yeah. It sounds like Jumanji. I kind of want to remix that. It's very Jumanji. That is cool. I love it.

[01:05:40] I'm like that would looping that underneath like a like a banger pop mix. I feel that. That is good. It's just a it's a really great visceral. That whole scene where Buffy's in her dorm room, like you were saying, is so funny. And, you know, she's drawing on the wall and it looks like blood. Yeah. It's like lipstick or something. And the whole Parker bad. That's what I was like. Oh, no. I don't think she kills him, but she could. Yeah.

[01:06:09] Nobody let her see him right now. And she, you know, she was fantasizing about killing him earlier in the episode. And he, you know, I don't know if fans would have been too upset if he ended up dead. Although if Buffy killed him, that would upset us because she's not a murderer. But she evolved. And once she saw Willow, I did like how, you know, she goes into the burning building, that cafe or whatever. And she sees Willow passed out.

[01:06:37] And that seems to cause her to spring into action. But one of the funniest. Oh, the fire extinguisher. Yes. When she walks over and grabs it. I was like, she doesn't just throw it, does she? I would remember that. And then she just hurled it down. I was like, oh, no. Yeah. That's not going to work. Good try, Buffy. But no. That was pretty funny, though.

[01:07:06] I always crack up with that scene because every time when she picks up the fire extinguisher, there's a little part of me that's like, oh, good. And then, oh, no. It's like, yeah, you can do it. Get it. And then, yep. No. Not so much. No. It's like, oh. Yeah.

[01:07:36] She's very cool. When Buffy is in action mode, she's really, really cool. Like, no question about it. And I always think about the scene in season three when Jonathan is in the clock tower with the gun. And she, like, jumps on the stair railing and, like, runs up and then flips into the tower. And it's just like, God, she's so cool. It's so effortless.

[01:08:05] Like, she hardly looks like she's trying. Yeah. Yeah. She just, like, flies around. It's pretty awesome. And I do like, you know, Sarah Michelle Gellar does a good job. She's not my favorite comedic actress, obviously. But that's not what she really is. I think she's witty and she has good comedic timing. But in this episode specifically, her playing dumb was really just getting to me.

[01:08:35] Like, I was giggling nonstop when Xander said something, you know, I cut you off about the beard. And she's like, did it hurt? I was like, oh, sweetie. Yeah. She just did a really good job in this episode acting like a cavewoman. Except they did not. They did not change her face. No. Or anything. No lumps and bumps. Like, she's still gorgeous. Her eyeliner looked a little darker. Yeah. A smidge darker.

[01:09:05] Maybe a little smudge. But that was it. Yeah. I was like, what? But of course. Her hair's just, like, extra curly. Yeah. It's just an extra humid day or something. Yeah. It's fine. She looked, like, she looked fantastic as a cave person. But, you know, she's the star of the show. It's fine. She's allowed. She's allowed. I love Buffy with the long hair. Season four and season five, Buffy has the same, from here on out, she has this, like,

[01:09:33] really long, gorgeous, bouncy, golden hair. And I am so there for it. I tried to achieve that. And it fried my hair. And I had to stop trying to have golden, blonde, Buffy hair. And I did it for a few years. I think Sarah Michelle Gellar just kind of won the genetic lottery with hair, to a certain extent. Yeah. It still looks really good.

[01:09:56] The other person's hair I was obsessed with at this time was Holly Marie Combs on Charmed. She has the most beautiful hair in the world. It is so beautiful. I think this was around the time of my Denise Richards hair obsession. That, and there is an episode where she is a guest star on Friends. And it would have been later than 1999. Oh, I remember that episode. Yep.

[01:10:24] And it's creepy because, you know, she's Ross's cousin and then Ross tries to make a move on her. But her hair is like peak hair in that episode. And I, that, I tried to grow my hair out. It did not look like her hair. I was so sad. Yeah. That made me think of it because of the, this is her Bond girl time, like era. Right. In 1999.

[01:10:54] I mean, she's another person at the time. She was just absolutely so beautiful. When she first burst on the scene, it was like, oh my God. Are you a real person? How is this hair? It's like, hold on. Oh gosh. I just, it was nice to have an episode that was just so inconsequential. Yeah. Like it was light and fun.

[01:11:24] And watching Buffy knock Parker out twice was very satisfying. And I do, I also laughed out loud excessively, probably disproportionately. So when Giles is trying to describe Buffy to that poor college guy, she walks with sort of a sideways limp and starts imitating her. I was like, oh gosh. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:11:53] And meanwhile, Xander's running into a burning building and trying to save people's lives. Where is Giles? Yeah. He really, we've said it already, but he really, he really shines. You know, as these grown college guys go full caveman in front of Xander, it's a good thing Xander's scene. Yeah. Gachner? Yeah. Because that would have been quite an experience. He's just like, oh, okay. Great. It's the hell mouth.

[01:12:22] So there's something happening. Of course. Special. I mean, I guess the only thing that really drives it forward is Buffy's conversation with Riley. It will be interesting to see how that develops. And then Oz and his strange attraction to Veruca. Yep.

[01:12:48] Next Buffy episode, we'll be dealing with that. And I will say that her singing performances, it's not the actor's voice. It's another singer. And I've forgotten her name, but next week I'll know. But the actor, the way she sells the performance is very compelling and sexy.

[01:13:11] And the song that they've chosen to be her song is really dark and sexy and cool. And I think they did a good job of creating someone sufficiently interesting to catch Oz's attention. Because the thing about Oz is that he doesn't want just like some basic person. Like he would never be interested in somebody who didn't have a twist to them. Yeah.

[01:13:40] You know, the first time he noticed Willow was when she was in her cultural appropriation outfit as an Eskimo. So... It's so cute. Aww. That's true. Which I get. You know, they do do a good doo-doo. That's good. They do a good job of kind of laying the groundwork for his interest in her.

[01:14:07] And it's also the type of girl that is exactly who Willow, I think, would be the most insecure about. Yeah. Because, you know, she's in a band. Like she's got this edge to her. And it's not that normal for Oz to show that much intensity or interest at all. Yeah. And for him to be looking at this girl like that, that must set off all kinds of alarm bells for her.

[01:14:37] Yeah. And she describes her to Buffy as dressing like Faith. And I was like, yeah, Faith set off her alarm bells too. Yeah, that's true. Like... She was very insecure around Faith. Poor Willow. We will get there in two weeks. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The rest of mine are just... Hee-hee, beer bad. Hee-hee, fire bad. Not really helpful.

[01:15:04] Well, then, I think we can move on to our pop, not pop culture references. And I'll start us off. Xander says about knowing how to mix drinks, Oh, I've seen Cocktail. I can do the Hippie Hippie Shake. Cocktail is a 1988 film starring Tom Cruise as a business student who takes up bartending to try to make ends meet. Hippie Hippie Shake is one of the songs featured in the movie. If you haven't seen Cocktail, oh my god.

[01:15:33] It's a camptastic, like, so 80s rom-com, quintessential Tom Cruise movie. I have never seen Cocktail. Oh, it's hilarious. It is like the only Tom Cruise movie that I have not seen. Is it plane appropriate? Yeah. Okay. I might just download it and watch it on my plane ride. Yeah. Yeah. You could watch it on the plane. Oh, man.

[01:16:00] And, of course, one of the philosophy bros references Thomas Aquinas before he is cut off by his fellow philosophy bros. And he was, of course, about to talk about Saint Thomas Aquinas, who lived from 1225 to 1274,

[01:16:18] who was an Italian philosopher and theologian of the Roman Catholic Church, primarily trying to synthesize Greek philosophy and the teachings of Aristotle with the teachings of the Bible. Huh. Interesting. I had a horrible college flashback thinking about Thomas Aquinas. I never took any philosophy. Oh, man.

[01:16:46] Xander says to Giles, well, excuse me, mister. I spent the 60s in an electric Kool-Aid funky set Satan groove. That's a hard one. That's a hard sentence. That is hard. Most likely, this is a reference to the electric Kool-Aid acid tests of the 60s, in which Ken Kesey, author of the 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, members of the Grateful Dead and others reportedly staged events in which hundreds of volunteers were given Kool-Aid spiked with LSD, i.e. Electric Kool-Aid, to see how it affected them.

[01:17:16] Tom Wolfe wrote a book about the tests, Kesey, etc., called the Electric Kool-Aid acid test. Electric Kool-Aid is also a cocktail consisting of Amaretto, Midori, Cherry Brandy, Southern Comfort, Triple Sec, Sour Mix, Cranberry Juice, and Grenadine, though recipes may vary by region or bartender. That sounds disgusting. It does. Just have Kool-Aid with vodka in it and you're done. That's true. That sounds awful.

[01:17:46] That sounds like jungle juice, almost. Just like, let's pour whatever we can find. I mean, Midori and Amaretto? Like, oh, God. I can't. It's very special. We do also hear some drive-by quick references to the American Bourbon Wild Turkey when Willow is giving her pretend problem speech to Xander so he can practice as a bartender.

[01:18:12] And the Academy Awards when he tells her that her problems will get an Oscar nod from him. That's very cute. That is adorable. Discussing the frat boys turned cavemen, Xander asks, how much more beer would you say a person would need to consume before they seriously start questing for fire? This is likely a reference to the 1981 movie Quest for Fire, depicting three prehistoric tribesmen and their search for a new fire source.

[01:18:41] Checks out. Yeah. That makes sense. I've never seen that. Me neither. I did look up a couple of clips of it when I was putting this together, and I highly recommend that. Oh, that sounds fun. It's pretty entertaining. At the beginning of the episode, we, of course, hear Professor Walsh discussing Freud's theory of the id.

[01:19:03] And according to Sigmund Freud and his psychoanalytic theory of personality, the id is the personality component made up of unconscious psychic energy that works to satisfy basic urges, needs, and desires, like Penny had talked about earlier. And, of course, the id is one of the three major components of personality postulated by Freud, the id, ego, and superego. And this is not the last that we see of this sort of symbolism in Buffy.

[01:19:33] No. It'll come up again and again. Yeah. Let's move on to a little bit of trivia. I love this one. This one. It's the prop direction for Xander's fake ID in Beer Bad. And they were told, fake ID showing Xander with a big Tom Selleck mustache. Very descriptive. I want to see it. Yeah.

[01:20:02] Each of the frat guys who turned into cavemen have appeared in other Buffy episodes. I didn't know that. Yeah. And they are all in the future. So we'll try to point them out as we go along. Just like spot that caveman. It'll be fun. And in our last episode that we discussed, Fear Itself, Giles says it's alive, which is a reference to the 1931 movie Frankenstein.

[01:20:28] And in this episode, Buffy's fire bad line also comes from that movie. The monster in the movie, played by Boris Karloff, is chased by angry villagers with torches when he shouts fire bad. That's pretty funny. I didn't know that was funny. In an interview, JW revealed doubts he and David Solomon had about the quality of this script. The fourth season's Beer Bad wasn't everyone's cup of tea, especially with Buffy fans.

[01:20:58] Solomon had some doubts, but it turned out to be better than he expected. JW wasn't entirely pleased with this story, he says. He came into my office at the time, at the last minute with the script, and said to me, I tried to make it better, but all I did was make it funnier. I took that to mean we're not exactly sure what this is supposed to be about, so just enjoy yourself. So I actually had a ball doing it. It was a laugh to watch frat boys turn into cavemen and have Buffy affected by the same thing that was affecting them.

[01:21:24] We just let everyone go, quote, crazy, and nothing all bad came out of it. I kind of like how even they were like, yeah, there's no deeper meaning to this episode. Yeah, it's just a fun one. It's just fun. And then Douglas Petrie, or Doug Petrie, a writer on this series, talked about the most striking feature being the twin moral of the story, that beer and casual sex are bad for you. I don't know about that.

[01:21:52] In a BBC interview, Petrie stated, well, very young people get unlimited access to alcohol and become horrible. We all do it, or most of us do it, and live to regret it, and we wanted to explore that. Sounds like excess beer. Yeah. It's more like beer and casual sex are not as simple as they appear at first. Yes. There's a lot of nuance there. And it can go wrong, but it doesn't have to go wrong. You can drink beer and have fun. That's fine.

[01:22:22] This next tidbit is one of my favorite ones. This episode earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in the year 2004 Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series. I assume for the caveman wigs? Yep. Which is hilarious. And I guess Buffy's like slightly tasseled, tasseled mane there. Yeah. That's really funny. That's adorable.

[01:22:48] It's like Buffy did not get, I think, near enough attention from the Emmys, but the fact that it got a nomination for this one makes me happy. That's hilarious. So it's time to ask, does it still slay? You know, a week ago I probably would have said no. Or just my opinion hadn't changed.

[01:23:14] But after watching it three times in the last week, I really like this episode. It's just nice and fun and light. And it's an easy to digest episode, especially when we think about what's to come. Yeah. What about you? It balances with the other episodes. I've always liked it. Whenever people would be like, oh, you know what episode's bad? Beer bad. I'm always like, what? What are you talking about? It's so funny.

[01:23:44] It's great. I think it slays all over the place and totally holds up. Legit. So this is new for us. We don't usually have news for this series since it's been out for 25 years, but some exciting stuff has been happening in the Buffyverse. So exciting. And Cara, do you want to read the first one there? Sure.

[01:24:12] So first is an article from today.com titled Sarah Michelle Gellar confirms Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot is in the works. This will be for you, she said. And so after reports started circulating online that a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot was in the works with the actor returning, Sarah Michelle Gellar confirmed to fans on Instagram that she is involved in a revival of the show.

[01:24:39] In an Instagram post, she said, so you might have heard some news this week, but I realize you haven't heard from me. Gellar 47 wrote on February 6 alongside a photo of herself as Buffy. And this is so dated. And the character's memorable quote, if the apocalypse apocalypse comes, beat me. That's a pager for people who might not know. It's a pager reference.

[01:25:08] Gellar went on to share details about why she decided to return to her Slayer days almost 22 years since the show ended. She said it all started three years ago with a phone call from her dear friend and mentor, producer and executive, Gail Berman. She told me that she wanted me to sit down with Chloe Zhao to hear her take on a potential Buffy revival, Gellar wrote. I was blown away that Chloe even knew who I was.

[01:25:36] But as I've always done, I told Gail that I just didn't see a way for the show to exist again. Gellar wrote that she has always listened to the fans and heard their desires to revisit Buffy and her world. But it was not something I could do unless I was sure we would get it right. This has been a long process and it's not over yet. She wrote, I promise you we will only make this show if we know we can do it right. And I will tell you that we are on the path there.

[01:26:03] She added that she feels so lucky to be on this journey with the four unbelievably talented women, all of whom love Buffy as much as I do, as much as you do. Thank you to all the fans who never stopped asking for this. This will be for you. So that is what finally got me excited about it. Yeah, it's it's it sounds really real and not just like wishful thinking on all our parts. I am a big fan of Chloe Zhao.

[01:26:33] I'm one of the like four people that loved Eternals. And I it's funny. It's hard for me to to marry Chloe Zhao's aesthetic with Buffy and Buffy's aesthetic in my head. But yeah, I think she's brilliant. And I think that Sarah Michelle Gellar is brilliant and knows this material. And Gail Berman is brilliant.

[01:26:57] Like and the fact that they've been working for years to get the idea honed gives me a lot of faith. Yeah. People have been asking Sarah Michelle Gellar about this all over the place. And of course, she's doing press for the Dexter prequel. So she's on a lot of red carpets lately. And she had this one really, really cute moment. Big, big shoes to fill my own, which is kind of weird. I should fit in them. Oh, which was adorable.

[01:27:24] But she has been talking about how, you know, she didn't come right out and say it. But I think somebody leaked it. And that's why they've had to confirm it ahead of when they wanted to. Because she's like, it's a little premature. It's just a little premature. She kept saying that. But she seems really happy about it. And she said that working with Chloe Zhao is a dream come true. And so I am, I'm so excited. We have another article.

[01:27:52] Everything we know about the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot from Elle.com. Clearly Gellar intends to be a big part of the show. There are no official announcements from other former cast members, several of whom played ageless vampires. In an interview with RadioTimes.com, Juliet Landau, who played the vampire Drusilla, insisted she'd love to return. David Boreanaz, who played Buffy's vampire love interest Angels, simply commented on her post. Excited for you and your journey.

[01:28:20] Enjoy the moments and continue to always give back to the fans. Godspeed. Charisma Carpenter, who played Cordelia Chase, wrote, Could there be a more relevant time for such a story? Long live the Slayer. Long live the Slayer in us all. Congratulations, Sarah. And Seth Green, Oz the werewolf, wrote, I'll always love that we're in two separate Scooby gangs together. Oh, that's true. That's cute. How is he in the Scooby? Because she's in Scooby-Doo as Daphne, but is Seth Green in Scooby-Doo?

[01:28:50] Yeah, but he's not. But, hold on. Now I'm Googling. I was like, he's not one of the main Scooby gang. That was a really bad typing job. He is in Scooby-Doo 2. He is Velma's love interest. Oh, that's great. That's right. I was like, wait a second. My brain remembers this somehow, but not without the assistance of Google.

[01:29:18] Yeah, she and Seth Green are famously friends from their childhood. They were both like child actors together growing up in New York. They seem so well-rounded for the level of fame that they achieve so young. Yeah, they really do. Like, both of them just seem like good, well-adjusted adults. Which is surprising for child stars, and that's fantastic. Oh, yeah. Both of them. For sure. So, I think it's time to get a beer.

[01:29:48] Speaking of beer, I really want something foamy to drink. That sounds good. And go over to the bronze and see what some of our listeners have to say about the episode. Bronze things. Things of bronze. Why don't you start? Okay. We've got an email up first from Coffee and Vodka, who says, Greetings, sloshed slayers. This beer and a shot episode worked on all levels.

[01:30:18] From the surface cave people plot, to the social statement on philosophies, academic and personal, to the furthering and ending of plots. I'm not entirely convinced Parker wasn't a demon of some sort. I knew I liked you, Coffee and Vodka. I am convinced that Willow is the friend Buffy both needs and mostly deserves. Finally, unless reading too much into it, during Oz's and Willow's awkward hallway scene,

[01:30:45] it wasn't Oz I saw looking uncomfortable, but Seth. It's interesting. I don't know about that. Please elaborate, too, if you're willing. Four put-off patrons, put-down parkers, and draft heads out of five. Peace and take care, Coffee and Vodka. Thanks, Coffee and Vodka. This next one comes from Jolene over in the UK. Hey, guys. Look at me getting an email in on time for the second week running.

[01:31:15] Beer bad. I have such a soft spot for this episode. I know a lot of people don't really like it, but it's just one of those daft episodes that doesn't really mean anything towards the main story that really makes me laugh. And, of course, the natural course for Buffy to take is to drown her sorrows. She's had a massive curveball thrown at her by he who shall not be named, and she's still unsure about being able to fit in in college. Why wouldn't she turn to alcohol? Zander. Nothing can defeat the penis.

[01:31:44] And his cocktail reference. I had to explain that to my daughter when she first watched this one because she'd never heard of it. Zander needing a fake ID always throws me. I was 18 when I first worked in a pub. Having to be 21 is so alien to me. Veruca. Urgh. Spoiler. Cave Girl Buffy is hysterical. The way she's staring at the TV screen and looking at the colors and when she steals the sandwich in class. And Parker bad while she's drawing on the wall. I love it.

[01:32:14] Willow playing Parker at his own game. Just brilliant. And I love the throwback to the daydream from the beginning when at the end Parker says what she was desperate to hear, but instead she does what she should have done ages ago and the whole world collectively cheered. My favorite quotes from this one. Zander. Zander. And was there a lesson in all this? What did we learn about beer? Buffy. Buffy. Zander. Good. Just as long as that's clear. Anyway, that's enough from me. Have a great week, everyone.

[01:32:43] Get ready for having to talk about what happens in the next episode. Jolene XX. Thank you. Yeah, Jolene. That one is not an episode that all of us love, but we'll get there. We'll get through it. Yep. Next up from Becky. Hello, friends. OMG, Zander's fake ID. That mustache. Willow is all of us with Parker.

[01:33:12] I love how she confronted him. Good for her, too. She didn't fall for his crap. I got your number, id boy. She's such a good friend. That's true. I adore Riley and Buffy moments. Their interactions are so cute and natural. So that bar customer is a douche. And oh my god, he multiplied. There's more of them. That's true. I love that that is followed with her in all caps. Cal Penn.

[01:33:40] I love all the actors who pop up in these older shows. Fun to see them early in their careers. So I bet Sarah Michelle Gellar had a blast filming this episode. Her acting was spot on. Love the slow progression into her becoming full on cave woman. Throwing the fire extinguisher in the fire was a good LOL moment. I appreciate her getting a hit in on Parker before she rescued him. And again, before they hit the road.

[01:34:09] The look of satisfaction on Willow's face was perfect. Favorite quotes are when Oz and Willow are at the bronze. This was good. And Oz said, you got a table. And Willow said, I had to kill someone. And Oz says, well, it's a really good table. Yeah. Willow talking to Buffy about her night out. This was, we didn't talk about this. Willow, not with Parker. You didn't. Buffy, no. Four really smart guys. And Willow says, four? Oh.

[01:34:39] I love how Willow immediately is like, Buffy had an orgy. Yeah. Like, what? Okay. The Buffy calls her gutter face. Such a great name that I'm going to try to find a time to use it soon. That is good. Oh, man. And Becky goes on to say, Giles and Xander about giving Buffy beer. Giles, but you knew it was beer. Xander, well, excuse me, mister. I spent the 60s in electric Kool-Aid funky Satan groove to Giles.

[01:35:08] And Giles, it was the early 70s. And you should know better. That was a good line. I always wonder how many lines or how many takes it takes them to get out the faster-paced dialogue. Kind of a la Amy Sherman Palladino and Aaron Sorkin. Becky says, I don't like the road we're heading down with Oz and Willow, but it is what it is. Poor Xander finding a solid job and then the place burning down. Was it? I thought it was. No, the pub didn't burn down.

[01:35:38] It was like some cafe place. Random cafe. But I don't think he goes back to the pub. Right. Because, you know, that's a bad, bad man. It's true. He has standards. He's got principles. Not the man Xander, obviously. I know this episode isn't the most popular of the series, but it's a fun one. I love the comparison of cavemen and male college students who want little more than to drink beer and get laid. TTFN. Grr. Arg.

[01:36:08] Thanks, Becky. Thanks, Becky. It's so good to hear from you. And Becky's going to be on probably next week to talk about Angel, the episode Room with a View. So hopefully our schedulings will work out and we'll get that out. That'll be fun. We have four voicemails this week, which is very exciting. So I'm going to start with Steve. Hello, Still Slaying.

[01:36:36] This is Steve and this is for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Beer Bad. This is the last episode we have to look at this Parker's face, right? And the swelling music as Parker is professing his love. And... Yeah. But it's a dream. Xander perfecting his lighter skills. Okay, so there's a pub besides the bronze. I've never understood this town. Oh, Riley. I actually do like Riley.

[01:37:04] I think Mark Fluthius is pretty good. He's ungainly. This guy is such a jerk towards Xander. Even though Xander's... I mean, he's trying to... I don't know. And now Xander's being really sweet to Buffy. Telling her, no, you're not an idiot. You're not a slut. You know, he's really... He's trying. And the douchebags give Buffy a beer. Meanwhile, back at the bronze, Oz is carrying two drinks. And more of this Oz being fixated on this woman that we've seen a couple of times already. Oh, and now we have a name for her. Veruca.

[01:37:34] And this guy's still talking about the socioeconomic blah, blah, blah, blah of beer. And Buffy begins her devolvement. TV is a good thing. And Willow's wallowing in the angstiness. Okay. Lots of beer. No group sex. Buffy just grabs a sandwich from this girl because Buffy's id is taking over. Her ego, superego. I can't remember. I don't know psychology. Okay. Now we're back at the bar, the pub. And I don't know how much these guys have had to drink.

[01:38:03] But, oh my goodness, they're all sloshed. And they're starting to devolve. Zander misses the girl with the cigarette. Pubs have wingback chairs? I don't think I've ever seen those kind of chairs in a bar. And Oz is doing a show with Veruca. Zander just said the title of the episode, beer bad. He said it again. Mike drops. Willow is where she's meeting with Parker. Looks like the bronze, but it's not the bronze. Or is it the, where's she at? Is it another bar? And Parker is really trying to be charming when he's talking about casual sex with Willow. But I remember where this is going.

[01:38:33] These guys have had way too much beer. Parker's still being a jerk. Oh, and he just knocked out Zander. And he's definitely looking Cro-Magnon-y. And now these other guys are transforming into something as well. Some of your patrons have turned into cavemen. They had it coming. Oh, and Zander just figured out that Buffy drank that beer too. Oh, and the cavemen now see the girls, the women. And Buffy's doing cave drawings. I love it. That Willow has been leading him on this whole time. How gullible do you think I am?

[01:39:02] And now the cavemen have broken into wherever this place is. I guess it's the bronze? I don't know. Oh, that look in Buffy's eyes. Want beer. It's like a student union or something. I don't know. But Willow's knocked out. And the guys have started a fire. Even her caveman state Buffy tries to help. But she doesn't know how to use the fire extinguisher. She recognizes Willow. Zander's doing his best to help everybody escape. Zander, the boys in the car, consider the geopolitical ramifications of being mean to me.

[01:39:31] And she just bonks Parker on the head. Which we've all wanted to really do. That's the end. Thanks, Steve. I love your enthusiasm. And I actually said mic drop when Zander said beer bad. Beer bad, yeah. When I was in my living room. I'm like, mic drop. Mic drop. This is the title of the episode. Our next voicemail comes from Karen. Woohoo! Hi, still slaying.

[01:40:00] This is Penny's friend, Karen. Um, I am, uh, hoping to get this in. I think I've got one day here. So, uh, I was happy to have caught up with you guys and the viewing. Um, I wanted to say I just listened to the Fear Itself podcast today. And, uh, Kara, yes, you are so valid for the, I'm going to have a drink at the airport because that makes me feel like an adult.

[01:40:29] Like, I feel like your 30s is 100%. I'm going to do this because it makes me feel like an adult because you're really not sure that you're an adult yet. Um, so that's like totally valid. And I just wanted to let you know that. Um, and Penny asked about listening to podcasts. I will say that, um, I started listening because it's a good thing for long drives. Sometimes I have long drives for work and, um, I like to talk to people while I drive.

[01:40:56] And if I can't, then having a podcast and I definitely talk back to the podcast all the time. Me too. It's funny. Um, but I'll also listen when, um, sometimes if I take a walk or if I'm at work or, you know, like I'm working, like today, I had a lot of moving numbers from one place to another kind of thing. And like, that didn't take higher brain thoughts. So I listened to you guys.

[01:41:21] Um, but about, uh, beer, the beer episode, I will say one of the other phrases that is said a lot in our household is beer foamy along with, uh, the classic board now. Um, so I will definitely pour a beer and be like beer foamy. Um, it happens a lot. It's funny. I will say one of the things that I really liked about this episode is it felt very real.

[01:41:48] Um, I, I don't know if at Vassar, there was a lot of like college students going out to the bar and, you know, acting all elitist in front of the locals because I just never really, I went out to the bar like once or twice. So, but I definitely think that like a bunch of college students sitting around and talking about intellectual stuff and like pulling anybody else into their circle that they can is a hundred percent. Something that happens at college.

[01:42:15] Um, those guys felt real real to me, the way Buffy reacted to being down and just getting into the beer drinking, totally normal, you know? And then of course it's taken to the extreme. And I also want to say that as an adult, like I totally get the bartender being like, Oh, these kids, they drive me crazy. I really hate them. I'm just going to make them Neanderthals for a couple of days. It'll wear off. I've loved his, it'll wear off.

[01:42:44] You're just like, Oh my God. Like you do not know what you're unleashing, but it's hilarious. And as I said, as an adult, I get how he feels. It's kind of hilarious. Um, that's all I'm going to say for today. I'm going to hopefully go and watch, uh, the angel episode tonight. Um, or very soon. So thanks guys. Bye. Bye Karen. Good to hear from you.

[01:43:14] Thanks Karen. I feel better now. I'm going to have a martini before my flight on Saturday and feel like a grown up. That is fantastic. Yeah. Karen spends hours and hours and hours in the car sometimes. And I, I know what she means. Like for me, a conversation holds my attention and entertains me better than like something

[01:43:38] that I'm passively taking in like a narrative unless the, like some books on tape work if they're really thrilling, but usually a podcast just helps me stay on the road better. It's just something about the conversational tone. Yeah. Feels more engaging. Exactly. Our next voicemail comes from Anwen out of New Zealand. Woo.

[01:44:06] Hey, it's Anwen. Beer bad. Oh my God. I do love the episode. It's kind of monster of the weeky with quite a simple kind of theme with the, with the beer story and the alcohol turns us into cavemen kind of theme. But the storyline that I really like is the whole Parker thing versus the whole, um, Oz and Veruca thing. So Parker thinks he's being all deep and meaningful and making a connection

[01:44:35] but really it's just about, um, lust and, um, conquest. And then that's juxtaposed with Willow and she has got a deep and meaningful relationship with Oz, but then he's tempted by this kind of feral lust thing that's starting to happen with Veruca. And I just think that's really interesting. And I love how the background theme, which is going to continue on, is all kind of demonstrated

[01:45:01] by the psychology, um, background themes with Professor Walsh, um, which is really cool. I love season four. It's so different and it's such a cool, fresh direction after the first three seasons. So can't wait to watch even more and I'll be listening along with you. Bye. Bye. And I like what she was saying. I hadn't really thought about that in those terms about comparing sort of Oz's feelings

[01:45:29] for Veruca with Parker's more sort of intentional lusting after women. Yeah. It's like a force. Yeah. It is. And Oz has often been the portrayal of the id in when he's a werewolf, but it's interesting to see Oz dealing with his id when he is in Oz form. Mm-hmm. Oz. Oz.

[01:45:58] Our last voicemail is from Piotr. Hello, still slaying friends. Hello, friends of still slaying. The geopolitical ramifications of ignoring concussion as a serious condition can have dire consequences in our society. Head trauma is particularly detrimental when occurring repeatedly. In other words, concussion bad.

[01:46:24] By using knocking people unconscious as a neat plot device, our storytellers take their seriousness out of this potentially deadly condition. In real life, Rupert's record of getting knocked unconscious would have had him in a coma or worse. To me, as a sports coach who has to take periodical concussion prevention tests, Willow, Giles and Zander smirking down at Parker look like psychopaths. An unconscious person with double head trauma lies on the pavement.

[01:46:53] If he survives it, he will have to take weeks if not months to fully recover and his lungs might be far gone too. Oh, they're shrugging and walking away now. At least call 911, you psychos. But he's a womanizer and a lying weasel and he totally deserves a double head trauma and a black lung. Nope, I don't buy it for a second. Talking about wanting to smack a jackass is more of a figure of speech. Actually hurting someone for perceived injustice is out of line.

[01:47:24] So, as you may have noticed, Birbad is not my favorite episode, sorry to say. My other objection, aside from making light of head trauma, is that it caters to the stereotypical, not very flattering depictions of early humans. If we were to really meet our early ancestors, we'd be surprised how not moronic, not destructive and how complex they truly were. This outdated stereotype somehow made us believe that the so-called cavemen were only, well, men.

[01:47:54] The main driving force of early societies. The authors of all cave paintings and stone tools. The only hunters. Subjugating their female counterparts and calling the shots. Nothing can defeat the penis. But this is just a false vision created by centuries of male-dominated science circles. Based on many current anthropological findings, we can go ahead and call BS.

[01:48:24] This kind of behavior is more likely in today's society, but I guess we will always measure everything with our own crappy measuring tools, won't we? Drawing parallels from early humans to lecture the viewers about the failings of modern men is a major fallacy. There needs to be a better way of pointing out the failure of our society to raise decent males. If modern men didn't in fact differ from the cavemen, we would be in much better place right now.

[01:48:53] Because the behavioral problems we are facing are not nature problems. They are nurture problems. I will end on a happy note. These are some enjoyable best hits that, in my view, salvaged the episode and rendered it somewhat watchable. Buffy's daydreaming renditions from the beginning. Pure gold. The goodwill hunting inspiration in the scene with Xander and the disrespectful freshman.

[01:49:21] Too bad it didn't end with the satisfying rebuttal involving mud daemon and apples. But I guess in Buffyverse karma works in mysterious and magical ways. Xander preoccupied with Buffy's behavior flashing the no smoking sign of the distressed college girl, thus forgoing his long-awaited perfect bartender moment. The trap Willow set up for Parker worked like a charm. She didn't even blink. He had no chance.

[01:49:50] And finally, have some beer. It's not all that bad in moderation. Plunge and move on. Cheers. Thanks, Fyodor. Bringing a topic to the foreground that we've talked about a little bit. Usually, Giles is the one who gets hit on the head. And the show does often make light of head trauma. It's not a joke in real life.

[01:50:16] And I'm able to enjoy the episode anyway, but I can totally see Fyodor's point of view. It's not funny to give people head trauma. And I have known some people who have had traumatic brain injuries and taken years to recover, if they ever recover. And it's pretty tragic.

[01:50:37] And there is a lot of CTE that we are discovering in professional athletics where people are hit on the head a lot. They have numerous concussions and then are sent right back out on the field. And it causes all kinds of problems, violent behavior and impulse control issues and early death and early onset dementia. There's a lot of things that can happen after you have head trauma.

[01:51:06] Well, not to mention the fact that every single person that was inside that cafe needed to go be checked out for smoke inhalation. There were fire people and ambulances and stuff there. So I'm hoping they all got appropriate attention. In their mouth. Have them open their mouths. It's like that one episode of Grey's Anatomy where April doesn't... Anyway. Yeah. That's a tangent. But yeah. Smoke inhalation is bad. Yeah. That is definitely bad. Although they're all young.

[01:51:36] They will probably recover if they get adequate medical attention right away. And I really do think there were ambulances and fire trucks and stuff all around there. True. I'm surprised we didn't see anybody in a shock blanket. Yeah. In those coil blankets. Or on a gurney. Yeah. They love those TV shows. I'm sure there was an EMT on his way over to pick Parker up and give him some treatment. But you're not wrong about concussions, Peter.

[01:52:04] And I'm glad that you take it so seriously because I know that you coach kids. So that's good to know. All right. That is the end of the main section of the podcast. You should stay tuned for The Watcher's Diaries if you want to hear us get all like spoilery with it. If you'd like to join the conversation, you can find all of our contact information at podcastica.com and in the show notes for each episode. Hi, Pixel.

[01:52:32] Also at podcastica.com, you'll find links to our social media pages and all of our other shows. I know I, for one, am super excited about the return of Yellow Jackets coverage. Yeah. We will be recording our episode about season three's double episode premiere, which we'll record tomorrow and probably release on Saturday.

[01:53:00] Probably that Yellow Jackets episode is going to come out before this episode of this podcast. It's just the way scheduling is happening with my life right now. But that podcast, if you guys are interested in Yellow Jackets, the podcast is called Yellow Jackets WTF. It's on the podcastica network. I host it with Daphne, Wendy and Jason.

[01:53:21] And if you like 90s nostalgia and women who are complicated and go through dark times, Yellow Jackets might be for you. I told someone today that just watch the pilot and you will know 100% if you're in or out. Like if the pilot grabs you, you're in. If it doesn't, then it doesn't change after that.

[01:53:48] Like it's not one of those shows where it's like, give it five episodes and see if you like it. No, you'll know right away. That is a very good point. I was gone after the first episode. Yeah. I was like, I'm all in. I'm in. And I have been ever since. And it's a, it's very exciting that it's back. And I'll just leave it at that. And if you want to follow Yellow Jackets WTF, please do. We would love it if you guys would come on over there with us. That would be fun.

[01:54:19] And of course, if you like what we do, please go ahead and give us a five star rating, a review or a like, follow and subscribe. And be sure to tune in next time when we'll be covering Angel Season 1 Episode 5, Room with a View. Thanks everyone. And. Want beer? Like beer. Beer. Good. Beer. Bad. Bad. Bad. Beer. Ugh.

[01:54:49] Now I want beer. Foley. Foley. Foley. Foley. I'm never going to get tired of those two sound effects. Oh, that's so funny. I still like Giles. Yes. Buffy. Very strong. Yeah. Very strong. Don't upset cave slayer. All right. That's the end of the non-spoiler section.

[01:55:17] And if you want to avoid the spoilers, now's the time. You should stop listening. Give it a couple seconds. Okay. We're on to the Watcher's Diaries. It's too bad we can't sneak a look at the Watcher Diaries. I'm sure it's full of fun facts to know and tell. Yeah. That's too bad. That stuff is private. Also, Giles keeps them in his office in his personal files. Most importantly, it would be wrong.

[01:55:47] And I'm going to start us off by reading the rest of Jolene's email that we cut out because it was a little spoilery. She said, Yeah. Oz being so confused by her being a bit off with him infuriates me. But there is also the aspect of it being the wolf in him. And does he even realize how he's being? I really hate what they do to his character.

[01:56:19] Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it does make me feel slightly better that it's likely some sort of primal urge and connection. But Oz is just so damn emotionally intelligent. And, you know, he does such a good job of compartmentalizing his wolfy side and, you know,

[01:56:46] approaching things really intelligently and empathetically that it still pisses me off. Like, I don't think he would. I don't think it's in the Oz that we know. I don't think it's in his character to do that to Willow. But at the same time. I can understand the draw there. Yeah. I mean, it's another being of his kind. And we talked about this a little bit last time.

[01:57:15] Oz has that line in Fear Itself where he talks about how turning into the wolf touches something dark. And they don't follow up on it with him. And we were talking about, like, Oz might need someone to talk to. Yeah. Poor guy. This thing that he goes through, this being a wolf, is a really huge deal in his life. And they kind of treat it as like, yeah, just once a month. He has to lock himself up. It's fine.

[01:57:41] And it seems to me that he's way overdue to have another werewolf to talk to. It's just really unfortunate that the first one he meets is Veruca. And she's not a good influence. And she loves the lust that he has for her. And she definitely plays into it.

[01:58:05] And just talking about this, my heart, like, hurts for Willow. Because to be, you know, I think a lot of us have been in that position, whether, you know, male, female, whatever, where there's a person that you have worries about or concerns about.

[01:58:27] And to have those fears kind of validated in the worst way imaginable, it's just, it hurts. And I feel really awful for Willow. Yeah. And I think it changes her. Yeah. It changes her trajectory entirely. And, you know, I understand why they did it in terms of Seth Green and his growth as an actor.

[01:58:56] And Oz wasn't really, you know, doing much. They didn't have much for Oz to do. But it's still a painful storyline. It hurts me. And I know that Seth Green, you know, off screen, his film career was taking off. And he wanted to take some time away from the show. And they ended up writing him off in this way. But I've always been sad that we don't get more of him, that he doesn't come back,

[01:59:22] that we don't get to find out, you know, more about his story, more about werewolves, more about, you know, what kind of things he discovered on his trip around the world. And maybe there'll be some way that Oz will be brought back into this revitalized, rebooted story. Who knows? Somebody... I would be... People online are speculating wildly about what's going to happen in the reboot.

[01:59:50] I've been trying not to read much of anything because I don't want to form expectations. I don't want to get my hopes up. I just want to kind of trust in the people in charge and see what they give us. Yeah. I was also going to ask you, you know, the end of season four is such a big point in the series with Restless.

[02:00:18] And the visions that Buffy has in that episode of the first Slayer. I couldn't help but think about that episode in this one. And I think that's just, you know, coincidentally because of the choices the writers have made in how they portray things. But... Yeah, I mean, the first Slayer is basically a stereotypical, like...

[02:00:47] Cave person. Sort of barely verbal cave person. Yeah. And... I don't know how I feel about that. I've never really known how to feel about that. It made me uncomfortable that that is what this episode reminded me of. Yeah. And I was like, you know, I know it's coming. But at the same time, there's some problems in how they depict things on this show. Yeah. But... It's not always... But...

[02:01:16] They do try their best. That's true. And I think, you know, for whatever reason, in this episode, Buffy had to learn about the consequences of having too much beer. Yeah. I mean, we've all had that realization at some point, right? Who doesn't have a story of like, and that... After that night, I never had tequila again. Like... Oh, my gosh.

[02:01:44] You know, not everyone pushes alcohol consumption to the limit. But certainly lots of people do, especially at college. And, you know, you... For me, it was not limited to college. I spent... I drank a lot in my 20s. I went out a lot. I drank a lot. And there were more than a few times where I had way too much. And honestly, I don't regret it. I had fun.

[02:02:13] But I didn't tend to, like, do really stupid stuff when I was drinking. I'm what I call an I-love-you-man drunk. Yeah. That's cool. I just... I want to be with my friends and, like, dance and be silly. Like, it's very fortunate for me. Hug people. That's how... I drank a lot in law school. Honestly, more than I should have to cope with this stress. Yeah. You know? Lawyers and law students drink. Yep. There's a lot.

[02:02:43] Like, we... Thinking about it now, like, my section in particular had this one bar that we, like, freaking lived at. And the amount of alcohol that I consumed is kind of scary to think about now. But back then, everyone was drinking to cope with the stress. Yes. And it's just... Yeah, there were a few nights where I think you could call us cavemen. Yeah. It's like, it happens. But...

[02:03:11] When you're like, no, I want to sleep on the bathroom floor. It's nice and you. I just... But I like that. And I-love-you-man drunk. I just want to hug everyone. Yeah. And cuddle. Which can also lead to issues. Yes, it can. To be fair. But if you're among friends, if you're drinking with people you trust, usually it just leads to one of them being very entertained by you when they take your shoes off and tuck you into bed. Yeah, it's like, all right, you can go to sleep now. Yeah.

[02:03:40] But it's nice to be, like, happy drunk. Happy drunk. Yeah. I feel very lucky about that because, you know, I've known people who are mean drunks or violent drunks or weepy drunks. Sad drunks. Yeah, sad drunks. I'm like, why would you ever drink again? I know. Like, if that's how you're going to express yourself when you're drinking, like, that doesn't seem fun. That's true. And I'm just... I feel very lucky that I'm a happy drunk. Like, thank God. That is... That's a good point.

[02:04:08] I don't drink much anymore, but that has more to do with my digestive system than anything else. And also, just, I don't have that lifestyle anymore. I'm not out partying. That's fair. Going to clubs and all that silliness that I used to do. That sounds exhausting. I had way more energy back then. Like, it is 8 o'clock right now. It's 8 o'clock for me, but yeah. Like, I am already thinking about crawling into bed and, like, listening to my audiobook

[02:04:36] and falling asleep, where when I think back, even college or law school or right after, I would be getting ready to go out. Yeah. Yeah. Like, goodness gracious. Like, you know, the number of times that I saw Veselka at 3 a.m., which is a Eastern European Ukrainian, I think, restaurant in the East Village in New York that had the best potato pancakes. Oh my God, that sounds good.

[02:05:04] Nothing is better after drinking and dancing all night than potato pancakes. I believe you. It's so good. That sounds fantastic. Refuel. Get some fun. So, you know, if you're young, have fun. Just be safe. Yeah. Be careful about drinking too much, but, you know, it's not the end of the world. Have a good time.

[02:05:29] Looking forward, we're going to have at least, I think there's one more Parker scene, and it's the very satisfying time that Riley punches him in the face. And then I think we're done with Parker. I don't think we ever see him again after that. I do like watching Riley punch him in the face. Yeah. It's satisfying in the same way that Buffy bonking him over the head with a stick is satisfying, even though head trauma shouldn't be funny. Parker, maybe, maybe being in a coma for a while will get him a new personality.

[02:05:59] He's got a really hard head. Yeah. And all that floppy hair. He's probably fine. He's got cushion. Yeah. That's all right. And then, you know, we have a lot to look forward to for the rest of the season between Buffy and Riley. That's going to be very sweet to watch when that starts to continue. That's an interesting storyline. Very soon is coming something blue, and I can't wait. Such a good episode. Oh, man. That and Hush. I am amped.

[02:06:29] Yeah. To talk about Hush. Except I'm going to need to watch that in the daytime because every time I have seen that episode, I remember being really scared. Yeah. The gentlemen are some of the scariest TV villains I've ever seen. They're so creepy. They would fit right in. Float! In Fromville. Yes. Like, they would be in From, and they would be like, perfect, we love it here. So creepy. Except I don't think the gentlemen talk because they just grin all creepy.

[02:06:59] And turn their heads tilt. And they have those weird crawly monkey beast things that serve them. Oh, oh yeah. I forgot about them. Oh, yeah. That's going to be fun. Yep. Daytime viewing. We'll get there soon enough. And until then, this is the complete end of the show for this time. Thank you everybody for listening. And until next time, I am Penny. And I'm Kara. Keep slaying! Keep slaying! Keep slaying!